On This Day In History
Did You Know?
First use of the rainbow flag, symbol of gay pride, made by Gilbert Baker at a march in San Francisco
Today in History in 1978
Would You Believe?
Fork introduced to American dining by Governor Winthrop
Today in History in 1630
June 26th
363 Roman Emperor Julian is killed during retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by troops on the battlefield.
1794 Battle of Fleurus: major victory by forces of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan over the Coalition Army (Great Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic, and Habsburgs) first use of reconnaissance balloon
1917 1st US troops arrive in France during World War I
1945 United Nations Charter signed by 50 nations in San Francisco
2016 Panama Canal’s third set of locks opens for commercial traffic, doubling the Canal’s capacity at an estimated cost of $5.25 billion
Did You Know?
According to the Lüneburg manuscript, a piper leads 130 children of Hamelin away
Today in History in 1284
Would You Believe?
The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio
Today in History in 1974
June 27th
1542 Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sets sail from the Mexican port of Navidad to explore the west coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire
1743 War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Dettingen: in Bavaria, King George II of Britain personally leads troops into battle. The last time a British monarch commanded troops in the field.
1950 North Korean troops reach Seoul, UN asks members to aid South Korea, Harry Truman orders US Air Force & Navy into Korean conflict
1954 1st atomic power station opens – Obninsk, near Moscow in Russia
Did You Know?
The world’s first ATM is installed in Enfield, London
Today in History in 1967
Would You Believe?
New Amsterdam (now New York City) enacts first speed limit law in North America
Today in History in 1652
June 28th
1389 Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe
1519 King Carlos I elected Holy Roman Catholic Emperor Charles V
1838 Coronation of Queen Victoria in Westminster Abbey, London
1919 Treaty of Versailles, ending WWI and establishing the League of Nations, is signed in France
2021 Tigray Defense Forces retake Tigray’s regional capital of Mekelle in Ethiopia’s Tigray War. The Ethiopian government declares a unilateral ceasefire to save face but neither side sticks to it.
Did You Know?
Saxophone is patented by Antoine-Joseph “Adolfe” Sax
Today in History in 1846
Would You Believe?
Tomato is proven to be non-poisonous by Colonel Robert Gibbon eating a tomato on steps of courthouse in Salem, New Jersey
Today in History in 1820
June 29th
1613 Shakespeare‘s Globe Theatre in London, burns down during a performance of “Henry VIII”
1900 The Imperial Chinese Court issues what is essentially a declaration of war against foreigners in China blaming them for hostilities and giving license to the Boxers for even greater ferocity
1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passes after an 83-day filibuster in the US Senate
1966 Vietnam War: US planes bomb the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong for the first time
1994 US reopens Guantanamo Naval Base to process refugees
Did You Know?
World’s first female diocesan Anglican bishop, Dr Penny Jamieson, appointed in New Zealand
Today in History in 1990
Would You Believe?
Thomas Beatie, the world’s first pregnant man, gives birth to a daughter
Today in History in 2008
June 30th
1520 Spanish conquistadors are expelled from Tenochtitlan following an Aztec revolt against their rule under Hernán Cortés during “La Noche Triste” (the Night of Sadness). Many soldiers drown in the escape, and Aztec emperor Moctezuma II dies in the struggle
1860 Famous debate on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution held at the Oxford University Museum and dominated by arguments between Thomas Henry Huxley and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce
1905 In Russia, the “Potemkin” arrives at Odessa, where sailors take the bodies of dead crewman ashore; sailors join civilians in revolutionary actions of the ‘1905 Revolution’
1908 A giant fireball, most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet flattens 80 million trees near the Stony Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia, in the largest impact event in recorded history
1934 “Night of Long Knives” – Adolf Hitler stages a bloody purge of the Nazi party
1938 Superman 1st appears in DC Comics’ Action Comics Series issue #1
1992 South African ANC President Nelson Mandela meets with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at Dakar
1997 British lease on the New Territories in Hong Kong, established by the Second Convention of Peking, expires
Did You Know?
The world’s first emergency call telephone service is launched in London using the number 999
Today in History in 1937
Would You Believe?
Winton Motor Carriage Company publishes the first known automobile ad in Scientific American using the headline “dispense with a horse.”
Today in History in 1898